STUDIES ON THE BODY TEMPERATURE AND METABOLISM IN LEPROSY

Abstract

The author conducted studies on the pattern of body temperature in leprosy and from the findings attempted to correlate this with body metabolism.
The following results were obtained.
1. There is no significant difference in axillary temperature according to type of leprosy but the temperature is higher in the summer than in the winter, cases suggesting heat stagnation being observed at times. A difference was observed according to time of day and month and there was a marked climatic fluctuation.
2. A greater variation from the normal basal metabolism was found in lepromatous leprosy.
3. Analysis of the diet of the patients in the leprosarium showed that it was higher in total calories, protein, carbohydrate, riboflavin, iron and hosphorus and somewhat lower in fat, vitamin A, and calcium compared to the standard of the general population.
From these findings, it can be seen that the reactivity of the leprosy patient is extremely labile from the standpoint of body temperature and basal metabolism suggesting a general systemic dysfunction. It is believed that this will be influenced by diet.